3947 Breguet Rattrapante Chronograph

The 90s was a time of complicated watchmaking returning to power, no longer for purpose but as expressions of watchmaking skill and emotion. The Breguet 3947 is an oft-overlooked split seconds from this period (most dating 1998-2002), with a total production likely far lower than 100 examples (over both refs). At the time, only two watchmakers had attempt to convert the lauded Lemania 2310 ébauche to a rattrapante. This was one, the other was the 5004. That’s not bad company to keep in any category. This is the 3947 (later renamed ref. 5947 with a split pusher integrated into the crown rather than upper left case), a 38mm split seconds from the Investcorp years—where the brand had the money to innovate but was still largely building on Roth’s work. It is the only 90s Lemania 2310 split seconds that can be said to be an attainable value.

Photography for this Find comes from a prior sale courtesy of A Collected Man. 

Interestingly, Breguet encountered the same issue Patek Philippe did in reworking the 2310 architecture: dreaded rattrapante drag. Left untreated, engagement friction would seriously slow the chronograph upon split activation. Patek solved this with its ingenious octopus-shaped isolator. As it happened, Breguet already had an isolator waiting in the wings—not from Breguet, then a new endeavor, but from Frédéric Piguet, which Swatch had purchased alongside Blancpain in 1992 for CHF 60 million. F. Piguet had created the world’s first vertical clutch for the 1185 and, in 1988, reworked it into a rattrapante. That calibre 1181 incorporated the world’s first isolator, marking the start of cross-pollination between Breguet, F. Piguet, and Nouvelle Lemania.

The 3947 is one of the ultimate incarnations of the split seconds post quartz crisis, one of the most handsome 90s chronographs to get zero credit whatsoever. Plus, by this point, Breguet actually owned Lemania fully; to the extent that it matters, which is very little, this was a fully ‘in-house’ effort. The 3947 and 5947 should have a great historic weight associated with them as the second ever 2310 split seconds to exist, in the same way that Breguet the man was simply unrivalable. Neither this split seconds nor Breguet are where they should be today. But, for those of us who appreciate history, both are almost more special because of it.

This example is out of Singapore and looks to be solid where it counts. The case has not likely been refinished but has some life on its metal. The dial shows light patina but nothing major. It comes from a private collector out of Singapore with papers, no box.